Flagpole landscaping has been used for centuries to add focal points in yard landscaping and display your patriotism with pride. Whether you do that with an American flag or state flag, there are quite a few ways to show them with style!
While flags themselves are quite the point of focus, you can still have fun with landscaping designs. So, keep reading to learn some of the best flagpole landscaping ideas!
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A List of Flagpole Landscaping
1. Circular Flower Bed
If you wish to make your flagpole stand out, then why not try decorating your flagpole’s sides with a beautiful circular flower bed to make it stand out more. The base of your flagpole will look perfectly splendid and improve your yard’s curb appeal as well!
– Features
Start by designating a half or semi-circle in the front of your flagpole or the area you want the most visibility on. Next, you can choose any flowers that you would like to display; we recommend choosing varieties that grow not too tall, as the shorter types tend to look the best. The shorter they look, they more neat the landscape would be.
– Flowering Types
The best part about creating a flower bed around your flagpole is how customizable the idea is. You may also use a theme of your favorite colored flowers or go all out with a vibrant picturesque look.
Flowers add much more to a space without being too over the top. Consider using flowers like sweet peas, hydrangeas, sunflowers, roses, and hostas, because these would grow in a perfectly manicured way all at the same height, not just randomly growing taller than the other.
– Pros
Using a flowering bed around your flagpole makes it stand out and look more attractive, making your home’s front yard attractive and eye-catching. Flowers can also help make your home a more colorful and vibrant area. It looks welcoming and beautiful!
– Cons
Note that the circular flower beds can be a lot of work, especially if you’re a plant beginner and choose high-maintenance varieties. Growing and maintaining flower beds needs effort overall. You must always keep them in their healthy state, where they are blooming, not leave them as in an unhealthy way.
2. Use a Fence
Using a fence around your flagpole is another great pole landscaping idea. It allows your flagpole to stand out without being too crowded. So, if you’re not the biggest fan of colorful flowers or aren’t up for the high maintenance effort, erecting a fence nearby is your best bet!
– Features
Once you have decided the fence you want, call in the specialized professionals to help build the wall up. If you’re going to DIY the building process, designate a circular shape in front of the flagpole, so you know where to start. This would feature an elegant look, as the flag is waving at the borders of your house.
– Fence Types
Similar to flowering beds, fences can be completely customized. You can choose from various styles, shapes, colors, and sizes to see what suits your home the best. Make sure to select a color and size that complements the flagpole and your curb appeal.
Note that the vinyl fences are a common favorite amongst homeowners because of the variety in choice and convenience, and they do look appealing, especially if you are planning on placing a flag pole on your fence.
– Pros
Most fence materials are extremely low maintenance and require little to no upkeep. All you would need to do is the occasional sweep and wipe to keep them from looking worn out, and the pole would look nice.
– Cons
Fences tend to be permanent and will take effort if you feel like changing their style or completely removing them from the landscape. So, frequent changes may be difficult at most times and inconvenient.
3. Add Rockery
If you don’t fancy the flowers or the fencing around your flagpole, why not give rockery a chance?
The rockery is a beautiful landscape design that has been around for decades and can be the perfect addition to your home. Anyone looking to amp up their curb appeal and make their flagpole stand out should add rockery around it.
Another idea to use your rockery is to pair it with different types of plants and not just flowering beds! They look super extravagant, especially under mood lighting that hangs in the evenings.
– Design
Much like how you designate an area around the flagpole for the flowers, you will need to do the same for adding the rockery. You can do it in any shape you like including a circular shape or just a patch ahead of the pole.
You can place bigger rocks, and smaller ones of the edges, you can even add some succulents on the sides, so that it would show green life around the flagpole. Now, you can add the rocks of your choice in the form you want.
– Choose The Rockery
When choosing what style of rockery to go for, you can do a pile-up of small rocks, big rocks, or even a combo of both. Most homeowners enjoy the combination of both sizes as it is an all-time classic. Nonetheless, you may also choose darker gray rocks as well with smoother texture, so that they would all cooperate together.
– Pros
Adding rockery in front of your flagpole is an excellent way of making it stand out even more. Rockery tends to give a classic look without being over the top. The rockery is the way for homes looking to stay in cool tones and hues.
– Cons
While rockery gives a classic look and feel, it can look pretty vintage and take away the face of modern landscaping, if that is what you want at a later time. Or if you have a modern house and this style wouldn’t match it perfectly.
4. Install Lighting
Lighting is always a good way to highlight something and make it more visible. Lighting is an exceptional flagpole landscaping idea because it can come in different colors, moods, and brightness, you may do this with string lights as well.
Hence, if you’re looking for something more casual, you can still apply this, or if you’re looking for something more bright, you can still do this.
– Features
Adding lighting features is always better when done by professionals, so after choosing your choice of light features, you can get them professionally ordered and installed accordingly. Choose your lighting themes with dedication because it can be difficult to replace or change them later.
– Lighting Styles
With new technology, lighting features come in a variety of different colors and themes. It would help if you took this time to finalize which lighting style suits your style and home’s aesthetic the best. On the other hand, cooler lighting will be the best choice if your property has more cool tones. And vice versa for warm tones.
You can select between string lights and even a projector light on the bottom to be exposing the flag at night time as well.
– Pros
Flagpoles look great with just a few spotlights around them as they shine at night, giving all the attention to the pole. Unlike other flagpole landscape designs, lighting features will only add to the flagpole’s aesthetic, making it the complete star of the show.
– Cons
Any lighting features will only be visible at night. Which means that this limits your design to stand out at night only. In addition, you would have to replace it once the light is dead, because it won’t stay for several years.
5. Add in Brickwork
Brickwork has always been a go-to when it comes to flagpole landscape designs. The bricks add pure class and elegance while making the flagpole stand out. If colors aren’t for you, then brickwork is another excellent idea to incorporate into your home.
– Different Options
Brickwork under your flagpole can also be completely customized. So, your choice of layout in which the shape of the bricks would be placed and colors too. You can also choose the red brick theme or the basic cool-tone bricks.
– Features
Brickwork is a fairly common and easy-to-get landscape design, as most contractors offer it in any style you could dream of. The best or traditional way to do it is to lay out a circular patch around the flagpole’s base and have your brickwork there. It looks elegant without being too over the top and makes your flagpole stand out perfectly.
– Brickwork Styles
As mentioned, bricks come in different colors and sizes and too. However, if you want a more uniform and clean look, using smaller bricks around the flagpole’s base will help you achieve this. You may also choose between clear, gray bricks and reddish, brown bricks to see what suits your property the best.
– Pros
Brickwork is a classic landscape design and will never go wrong when trying to improve the look of your flagpole. This feature is loved because it is a timeless idea and looks great for almost any home.
– Cons
When you are adding brickwork, it can look repetitive and dull if your property already has basic coloring schemes. So, in case you want more color in your home, brickwork may not be the look for you.
6. Plant Evergreen Shrubs
Looking to add more green to your yard? Try evergreen shrubs to create a more formal environment. Greenery adds so much more depth in just about any area.
– Characteristics
It adds a vibrancy unlike any other and can uplift any given space. This makes it the perfect landscape design to use around flagpoles, and flagpoles standing alone can look very basic.
Adding green shrubs will give your flagpole a much more polished and welcoming look. You will feel the difference before and after planting the green shrubs. This is also a good idea for those who want to add color without using flowers.
– Features
Begin by surrounding the flagpole with medium-sized evergreen bushes, leaving three to five feet clear for greater access. The brushes can be planted singly or in a row together to form a hedge.
You may even place more space between each plant and smaller shrubs on the outer perimeter of the medium shrub ring, roughly midway between the flower bed boundary and the inner shrub ring.
– Types of Shrubs
There are many shrubs to choose from, and you can get super creative. Always consult your local extension office or a garden center expert before purchasing a landscape shrub for information on invasive shrubs to see if they match flagpole design standards. However, remember to pick ones that will grow short and not as big as trees.
– Pros
Adding greenery next to your flagpole is always going to look good. Greenery adds more depth and vibrancy to anything and looks effortless.
– Cons
Adding evergreen shrubs will require maintenance every now and then as flagpole planters require upkeep.
7. Add a Retaining Wall
If your yard slopes, you should construct a retaining wall around the flagpole to level the ground and enable you to place the flagpole in a perfectly circular, level flower bed. This means that the wall maybe two or three courses high at the bottom in sloped yards and just one study high at the top.
Even if your yard is level, you can still construct a ring-shaped retaining wall to give the flag even more dramatic focus, making it appear as though the flagpole is perched on a noteworthy pedestal.
– How to
Retaining walls are best done through professional help as contractors know the exact numbers and measurements to build a suitable retaining wall according to your property. If you have some experience in building and construction and would like to make this a DIY project, then you can look up online videos and guides.
– Retaining Wall Options
You may even have fun with the retaining wall you want to build around your flagpole. If it’s a certain shape you’re looking to achieve, like a circular bed or rectangle, you are free to choose any. You may even get a little creative and customize the retaining wall height<span style=”font-weight: 400;”> that will hold your flagpole.
For more shows, you can add rockery onto your retaining wall to make it look even showier. The division will make your flagpole stand out and give it its platform.
– Pros
A retaining wall gives so much more class than other landscape designs because of how it looks. It gives off a more polished look and feels and shows anyone that sees it how much effort was put into making it. As you add a retaining wall it doesn’t require much upkeep as they are built to last.
– Cons
If you are a frequent changer, a retaining wall may be too permanent for you, as it is not easily replaceable like shrubs or flowers.
8. Mulch and Selective Plants
You may easily maintain the flagpole by forming a weed-free circle around it and covering it with several inches of gravel or garden mulch.
– Addling Plants
Then, add one to three attractive, drought-tolerant blooming shrubs of the same type close to the pole, such as salvia (Salvia spp.), with species suitable for USDA zones 5 through 9, or seasonal plants like tulips (Tulipa spp.), with variations that do well in USDA zones 3 through 8.
Plants should stay within one-third of the pole’s height. With little upkeep, this produces a balanced appearance. An odd number of plants in a group in landscaping looks better than an even number. This is a fundamental design principle.
– Advantages
Adding mulch and selective plants allows you to keep control of your flagpole design. You can also relax because of this particular planting, as it will be low maintenance and relatively easy to maintain.
Conclusion
All landscape designs mentioned above can make your flagpole stand out. Not only are all these residential flagpole ideas great, but they’re so easy to implement.
Just remember:
- Circular flower beds are great because you can swap out the flowers every season and plant your favorites all year round.
- Fences look good and are easy to maintain with little to no effort.
- Brickwork is a classic way to make your flagpole stand out from the base, but replacing it too often can become a problem. So, if you’re looking for something permanent, this may be it.
So, are you ready to make your flagpole look better in the entire neighborhood? Which of the ideas for flagpole landscaping above are you going to choose?
